1. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to the positioning of ergonomic manikins and controlling their environments and, in particular, to a system and method for positioning structural models and controlling their design environments through the use of motion-sensing devices, algorithms that convert spatial coordinate data to angle data, and computer-aided design systems that create models based on observed motions of an object.
2. Background
Ergonomic manikins are used in a variety of applications including product design, modeling, testing, and building of virtual environments. Manufacturers of transportation vehicles and their component equipment use manikins during crash safety tests, as well as passenger and driver comfort and usability. Industrial engineers and workplace designers may use computer-generated ergonomic manikins to simulate and design safe, productive, and attractive work environments.
Ergonomic manikins may be used by workplace designers to simulate, communicate and optimize manual handling tasks such as lifting, lowering, pushing, pulling and carrying. They may analyze designs faster with simplified workflows and reuse of saved analysis settings. Workplace designers may also leverage reporting capabilities to deliver products designed and optimized for humans and ensure conformance with health and safety guidelines and ergonomic standards.
Lifelike manikins may be designed to provide response information to various environmental conditions and events. Such manikins may be built with authentic anthropometry or human body dimensions.
Manual positioning of ergonomic manikins with functionality that is built into existing computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing tools may be iterative and time consuming. Alternatives may include using higher cost full body motion tracking and control to position a human model to develop awareness of safety and ergonomic issues. However, manually setting digital human postures inside tools including computer-aided systems may be costly and imprecise. In many circumstances, time constraints and costs of manually positioning a human model or contracting out these tasks to external providers of such services may not be practical. Thus, effective new techniques and tools may be desirable that integrate low cost sensing devices with computer-aided design and other tools.